There was a question from the group:

1. “Does anyone know a Lama who does not know RB (Richard Blackwell-Lama Yeshe), who is down to earth and practical, well educated in theory, and also legitimate, known lineage, who could help this group?”
    

“…Here is some advice that addresses what I see are the most important issues. I pray that it will be beneficial ...

Before you look for a qualified teacher, you need to make sure that YOU are a qualified student. You need to do what you should have done in the beginning – educate yourself to recognize what makes a Lama ‘a qualified Lama’, and what makes you a qualified student. ....... Do you really think that a “qualified” Lama will be eager to take you on as a student?? I can tell you firsthand that Tibetan Lamas are very wary of such students, regardless of their sob story.

Where do you put your faith? In letters of recognition? How will you know when a Lama is qualified or not? What makes someone authorized to give empowerments? As long as you don’t know, you should not seek out another Lama. Do the necessary research to get informed. There are plenty of good books and translations from the Vajrayana tradition to study. In fact, it is your responsibility to do so. And while you are doing this research, you will also find out what it means for YOU to be qualified to be a Buddhist teacher, giving empowerments and refuge vows to others.

I know that Lama Yeshe has received many empowerments, verbal transmissions and teachings (wang, lung, and tri) from qualified Lamas holding recognized lineages. If the empowerments he gave you and therefore the practices you are doing come from these Lamas, then there is no reason to discontinue that practice. I have also watched Lama Yeshe give empowerments in the presence of Tibetan Lamas, and they did not seem to object. Many of the Vajrayana teachings that I received from Lama Yeshe..., such as teachings on Yeshe Tsogyal, Lion Faced Dakini, Mahakala, Medicine Buddha, Vajrapani, the dharma protectors, and others were consistent in every way with what I learned from other Tibetan Lamas.

There is more to being a qualified Lama than some piece of paper stating such. In fact I have never seen any official letter of recognition for any of the Tibetan masters whom I have studied under. They do not put their faith in these things. I have also seen many ambitious westerners push Tibetan Lamas for letters authorizing them to teach, when in fact they have no training. There are many popular western teachers who have such letters and make such claims, yet I know for a fact that many of these western teachers are not in good standing with their Lamas and with the lineage. Do not put your faith in letters! Try to understand what true qualifications are! It is your lack of confidence in this matter that is causing so much confusion.


Karma

.....We co-create every single moment of our reality, and we are all part of the creation of the complex network of causes and conditions that have led up to this current result. The only reason we are involved with this situation is because we created similar circumstances in the past. We must accept this and take responsibility for the part we have played. There is no need to blame anyone. There is no need to denounce others in order to protect our reputations, there is no need to condemn others because we feel betrayed. It is our own self-grasping and attachments that cause us to feel this way. We all seek the truth, but the real truth lies beyond appearances, beyond what we believe to be right or wrong.

Regardless of which branch of Buddhism you study, being a Buddhist practitioner means putting effort into practicing our Refuge and Bodhisattva vows and understanding the meaning of the teachings. It is precisely during times like these that we must make a concerted effort to uphold our vows and apply the teachings we have received. They are based on the Buddha’s profound understanding of the workings of karma, and they are the method to purify and end the perpetuation of this endless cyclic existence, so that we don’t mindlessly recreate the same conditions for similar situations to arise in the future. This is the whole point of being a Dharma practitioner in the first place – to become liberated from the suffering of cyclic existence so that you can liberate others from this same suffering.

So how to apply this to this current situation?

To begin with, you must truly forgive Lama Yeshe with every fiber of your being. You must transcend this victim consciousness that you are caught up in and release him from your anger. As long as you harbor emotional reaction, and malicious thoughts in your midstream, you are simply creating the causes to recreate this scenario again and again. The people and places may differ, but the essential pattern with play itself out over and over again. You will never be free.

Try to rise above your personal hurts and your perceptions that “he harmed us”, that “he is bad”, and “I am a victim of his bad acts”. See this situation as an archetypal pattern or symbolic representation of the real underlying issues, and therefore the real lessons. There are some profound lessons to be learned here, but as long as you are holding on to a victim mentality, you will never see them. Teachers come to us in all forms. If you really understand the Dharma, you would be able to see every person who comes into your life as a teacher and every situation as a teaching, revealing our personal and collective karmic habit patterns in every moment. You would know that there is never any need to accuse others of wrongdoing, and to do so simply generates similar karmic patterns, creating similar future outcomes.

By releasing Lama Yeshe from your judgment, anger and condemnation, you acknowledge that you are also responsible for what you are experiencing right now. After all, it was your choice to study with him, regardless of whether or not you now believe he lied and deceived you. You must look closely at how you have contributed to this circumstance.

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There are many schools of Buddhism and each contains methods for healing. Vajrayana, or Tantra, is a specialized branch of Buddhism which was never meant for the masses. In order to enter into the tradition of tantra, the student must have certain qualifications and capacities. The most important and fundamental qualification a student must possess is the ability to maintain PURE VIEW. If you cannot see the highest good in every person and in every situation, no matter how difficult, then you are not qualified to practice tantra. If you cannot regard the teacher who sits before you as divine, no matter how they act, then you are not qualified to practice tantra. It would be better to pursue Vipasyana, Zen, Pureland Buddhism, or some other branch of Hinayana or Mahayana Buddhism.

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Money
Because you believed that you were receiving Dharma teachings at the time you paid Lama Yeshe for MCRK teachings, any money you gave Lama Yeshe should be regarded as an offering, and not as a financial exchange for some merchandise. As long as you feel that you have been ripped off, then it means that you regard spiritual teachings as some material object that you can buy in the marketplace, or some kind of professional training from a business oriented organization. It doesn’t matter whether or not you now believe Lama Yeshe is a fraud. At the time you took the teachings and gave him your money, you believed him to be a Lama and his word to be the Dharma. Therefore your offering was pure. Why contaminate it now with your regret and anger? Why destroy any merit you may have gained from your pure motivation? If you feel that you want to sue him or get some kind of retribution, then you have only planted more seeds of negativity in your mindstream. Will you truly be able to make pure offerings in the future?

Consider that the money you may have ‘lost’ is repayment for a karmic debt you incurred in the distant past. Offer it up to the Buddhas and pray that whatever karma you created be purified, once and for all.

Using Suffering on the path
According to the practices of the Bodhisattvas, you must use your own experience of suffering to purify the sufferings of all beings. Whenever you are feeling hurt, instead of looking for someone to blame, recognize that it is only your self-grasping that is causing you to feel this pain. In that moment, pray. “may  my suffering purify the suffering of all beings who are experiencing similar pain.” Don’t just nod and give lip service to this profound practice – DO IT! Do it now! Do it until you truly feel your interconnectedness with all beings – especially those whom you feel have harmed you.

Right use of speech
As we find ways to communicate what needs to be said to one another, to our students, to Lama Yeshe and the public at large, remember the power of speech and the Four Virtues pertaining to the right use of speech. Tibetans have many ways of understanding the energies generated by speech and words, and I can tell you  from my own experience and what I have observed in the countless --------- cases that I have witnessed, is that NEGATIVE SPEECH ENERGY IS VERY, VERY DESTRUCTIVE for all concerned!!!!  Tibetans call this energy Mi-Kha and I have seen it destroy people’s lives by manifesting as fatal or chronic illnesses, freak accidents, unexplained catastrophes, financial loss, etc., etc.

While it is true that we need to know the truth and we do not want to perpetuate deception, we must be careful HOW we do this. Be aware that when another person hears or reads your words, an ‘attitude’ is formed in their mindstream which releases energy. When that person then passes this on and it enters the mindstream of another and they form a thought, feeling or attitude, more energy is released. The stronger the emotional energy behind the thoughtform, the stronger the energy released. On and on this continues, creating a huge amount of negativity that effects everyone involved, particularly the ‘subject’ of the speech.

We must be very mindful how we choose to communicate this to our students and others. Many of the postings I have seen have been full of emotionalism, judgment and condemnation.  ... The Dharma is not an eye-for-an-eye doctrine. Regardless of the apparent bad behavior of others, or how others have treated us, we must always strive to forgive and act according to the vows we have taken.

The real lessons
Perhaps we can use this whole event as a marvelous opportunity to look beyond appearances, look beyond our version of the truth, beyond our money investments, our beliefs and expectations of what a teacher should or should not be. Do we really know who Lama Yeshe is? The teachers come to us in many forms, but do we have the eyes to recognize them? What are the real lessons here?

The fearless Heruka, with no name and title,
appears to us in the guise of Lama Yeshe.
Weaving a web of lies and waving the dagger of deception,
he pokes through the membrane of our self created reality.

Ouch!

Let’s not miss that precious, fleeting moment when our rational mind fails us, when our best laid plans lay in ruins, when our so-called faith is shattered – for only then will the pristine light of our True Nature have the chance to shine through the cracks of our self-created reality. Only then will we come to know that WE are the greatest liars of all!!! AH LA LA HOH!

Are we willing to see this? Or will we simply sink back into the mire of blame, anger, fear, confusion, disgust and judgment, demanding apologies, protecting our reputations, looking for our faith in official letters of recognition; once again spinning round and round on this merry-go-round of samsara, co-creating similar scenarios for endless future lives??

I pray that all beings recognize their essential unity,  : - )